New figures show over 25,000 migrants have crossed Channel since Starmer became PM
More than 25,000 migrants have been detected crossing the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister, according to provisional Home Office data.
A total of 240 people made the journey in four boats on Saturday, taking the provisional total for 2025 to date to 1,893, according to the data.
This brings the total provisional number of migrants to have crossed the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister to 25,135, according to analysis of Home Office data by the PA news agency.
Second-highest
Saturday’s provisional figure was the second-highest in 2025, with 260 migrants detected crossing the Channel on January 13.
A total of 36,816 people crossed the English Channel in 2024.
Last year’s arrivals jumped by 25% from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to the Home Office, but dropped by 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.
“We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”
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It’s what the majority wanted when they voted to leave the Dublin deterrent.
Net immigration (legal & illegal) to the UK is running close to one million people per year – about the same as the population of Birmingham every year. Whatever you think of the plight of the individuals concerned, nobody can pretend that the country can absorb this number of people – we cannot built a new Birmingham every year to house, educate and take care of them.
Of course it’s too high but that’s the legacy of the Cons and their laissez-faire approach to governance. The people demanded a points based system and it turns out plenty of people have the points. To open the door even wider Boris Johnson even abolished the resident labour market test that ensured employers had first tried to hire within the UK.
Decades of no planning for the long-term. We’ve known about the demographic bulge (aka the Boomer generation) for over 60 years. Birthrates have been trending downwards for almost as long, so we’ve been relying on migrants to make up the shortfall for ages. Governments of all stripes have ignored the problem and been happy to take the easy way out. Meanwhile all the major UK parties fall over each other in talking tough on immigration, whilst also not tackling the issues that could make a difference. Primarily affordable housing and a level of security that would encourage people to start… Read more »
We aren’t “[taking] care of them”, they’re taking care of us. There’ll be 50% more people of state pension age by 2050 and birthrates have been trending downwards over the long-term. People will be retiring faster than they can be replaced in the workforce. Without immigration, the entire burden would have to be placed on falling numbers of younger people. The very fact we have a rapidly aging population (increasing by about a year per decade) will also put additional pressure on the available workforce, due to age related care needs. Harrumphing about numbers doesn’t offer any solutions, other than… Read more »
50% more immigration is exactly what the brexiters caused. “Taking back control”
Wuth all that’s going on in the world you still see the movement of people as Your number one concern Please explain why.